Au bon endroit

Where you are = how you do

Where you are and what facilities you have can determine your success.

Where in the world?

Berlin is embarrassed about its attempts to build a new airport, but it does have unique historical issues to overcome if it is not too suffer economically from capacity problems. Can Ireland’s phenomenal digital sector growth continue after Brexit? What will be done about Air Passenger Duty in the UK to make sure the consumer isn’t punished?

Where in the country?

Stores need to decide where to they can afford to maintain a physical presence, and government needs to be fair about how online “stores” should be taxed. Mergers might only be approved if competition is shown to be effective a local level as well as a national one. In the years since Black Friday crossed the Atlantic where has it been most effective? Geography, despite the digital world we inhabit, is still crucial in commerce.

Competition in the sector has always been about finding new ways to serve customers, and rethinking the end-to-end supply chains that get food to customers

Simon Gaysford

Director, London

The demand for air travel tends to show a fairly stable relationship to overall economic growth

Sebastian Theuler

Consultant, Berlin

The operators of traditional physical retail outlets argue that they are particularly disadvantaged by taxes on property

Paul Cullum

Associate Director, London

In numbers

12%

Can the last five years’ growth in Ireland’s digital sector survive Brexit?

10

Years

How long Heathrow has been operating at full capacity.

6000

Shops

High street shops closed in the UK last year. But how many opened online?